Three quarters of all British 7-16 year olds are now internet users, according to kids.net, a six-monthly survey published by NOP.
The research shows that there has been a 10% surge in internet usage amongst young people in the six months to April 2001. There are now 5.6 million 7-16 year olds on the web, up from 4.8 million in October 2000.
The study shows that the Net is no longer the preserve of the teenage boy: 2.7 million 7-16 year old girls are now online, against 2.9 million boys – 48% to 52% split.
The report says that with GCSE exam results imminent, there has been a significant increase in the use of the internet for exam revision and homework: 23% of all users use it for exam revision. This rises to over half (53%) among 15-16 year olds – an increase of 14% in six months among this age group. Nine out of 10 users say that the Net helps them with their learning.
Interest amongst this group in looking for things to buy on the Net remains muted, reports NOP. Only a third of 7-16-year-old web users has looked for something to buy and just 12% of users actually bought something. This probably reflects this age group’s relatively small access disposable cash and its lack of credit card facilities.
A recent study by RedSheriff in Australia found that 92% of the kids and teenagers there are now using the internet. The report showed that schools and universities are playing a key role in this development (see Forecasts).
